Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the microRNA (miRNA) expression pattern in synovial fluid from patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) after treatment with intra-articular injection of hyaluronan (HA). Twelve OA patients were enrolled in accordance with the Kellgren-Lawrence classification of knee OA. All patients received intra-articular injection of HA once a week for 5 weeks and were evaluated with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) index at baseline. TaqMan miRNA assay profiling was performed on synovial fluid RNAs extracted from OA patients pre-injection and after 5 weeks of treatment with HA. Validation was performed using independent samples, including ten healthy controls and ten matched OA patients. Forty-three miRNAs (21 overexpressed miRNAs and 22 underexpressed miRNAs) were differentially expressed in OA patients before and after treatment with HA (P